Standing in the Storm
by lotrfangirl16
Summary: Seraphia has always had a life without worries. When her mother dies, she is left as the only legitimate heir to the throne of Aegidal. But when something happens to her that forces her to leave her royal life, and go into hiding, will she be forced to hide forever? Or will she find love? (sorry I suck at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

Standing in the Storm

Rain poured down from the Heavens above, soaking everything in sight. The trees shook in the heavy wind, and the roads were muddy, and very close to flooding.

The guard at the gate shook his head at the dark, ominous sky. It never seemed to stop. For twenty seven whole hours, it had never stopped, not even for a second. It just poured, and poured….and poured. The storm was entirely unexpected, for the small kingdom of Aegidal, which rarely had the chance to see a raindrop, much less a deluge like this.

Daimon, the guard at the gate, had always believed that everything had a reason, everything meant something unique and special. But in this case…..whatever it was seemed to signal death.

Then he thought. Rumours had spread that the queen, Ilytha, was dangerously ill. If it were true, it would explain this sudden storm. But still, those stories were only rumours. The queen could be alive and well at this moment.

Anyhow, Daimon was not in the mood for a surprise like this. The guards and military in Aegidal were not equipped for this, and his small shelter just inside the palace walls was supposed to keep out insects, and things like that, but it was entirely flooded by the rain. He had managed to get the important things out and in a safe place before they were too wet to use or read. But Daimon was still on duty, and he couldn't leave until one in the morning.

He stole a glance at the clocktower. It was fifteen minutes past eleven. Almost two more hours to go.

He leaned up against the wall, groaning, and then he uttered a quick prayer to God for the rain to stop.

Time passed on. For Daimon, it was just more, and more, and more rain.

Until one hour later, at fifteen past midnight. Then ,strange things began to happen.

First, he heard a loud cry from the keep's western tower. It was at that moment that several bolts of lightning hit the ground, splitting several trees, followed by two ear-bursting thunder claps.

Nearly ten minutes later, he could have sworn that he had seen a flash of red by the outer wall, over the waterfall. He followed the flash, for at least another five minutes, until he came to the wall over the waterfall.

He looked around. A young girl was standing on the wall, wearing a long, flowing red dress. Her hair was undone, and flying in the wind. She was just standing there, as if she was trying to make a huge decision.

Suddenly, Daimon realized what she was trying to do.

"What are you doing there?" He yelled so he could be heard in the storm.

The girl turned, so he could see her tear-stained face. He realized who she was.

"Princess Seraphia…" He bowed. "Why are you out here?"

"It is no one's business but mine, why I am out here." She looked up.

"It is mine, because you are trying to do great injury to yourself." He looked down at the raging waters below. "And it is my job to protect the royal family, so if you will forgive me for saying so, it is my business."

Her face softened a bit, but she still seemed resolute in her decision.

"I need to do this."

"No, you don't." He took her arm.

She pulled away, quickly. "My life is mine, to keep or to throw away as I please."

"Maybe so, but do you care about your soul?"

Her face held a guilty expression. "I have nothing else to live for. My mother is gone, and my father is drunken. I have no family, and I cannot rule. And I most certainly cannot live watching the people live in misery under my father's rule. At least my mother had some sort of an influence upon him."

"Your highness, I understand. But how do you know that your entire life will be misery?"

"But what if it is?"

"Your highness, no one knows what will happen to them. I could be alive today, and shot by a stray arrow tomorrow. God has a plan for all of us, and we have to look for the little blessings that he puts into our lives. Sometimes we don't see them, but once we learn to, life becomes much more enjoyable."

She said nothing, but looked down.

"Please, your highness, listen to me. I'm not going to keep you from making a decision, but please just think about what I am saying. Give life a chance."

She said nothing for a few minutes, but then looked up.

"Alright, my friend," she said. "I will."

"Well, then, your highness, I had better take you back." He took her arm.

By the time Daimon had returned to his post, it was half past one. He could finally sleep, until the morning light awoke him.


	2. Chapter 2-Two Years Later

Standing in the Storm- Chapter 2:

Two Years Later

About half a year later, life seemed to be completely normal again. The kingdom was prospering, and it had grown, so that it was one of the biggest kingdoms in the country. Aegidal had learned many useful things in those two years, one of which, how to make good wine and ale, instead of drinking the thin, weak stuff. It turned out to be very useful, especially because the guards enjoyed it, and the lazy ones soon learned that they got free liquor for the late shifts.

Aegidal had never been so well guarded in years.

King Magor and his daughter, Princess Seraphia, were still mourning over the loss of Queen Ilytha, but they had stopped wearing black, and treated life normally again.

In fact, today was a Royal Ball, to celebrate the Princess' coming into society. Not like the Princess honestly cared, because she most certainly did not.

Seraphia looked out from her balcony, wistfully into the distance. To be honest, she wished with all her heart that something, anything, would stop the party tonight from happening.

Her father was holding the ball because he wanted her to get married. He had invited all the rich, handsome men that he knew, along with the ladies in Seraphia's court.

Seraphia had never given a single thought to marriage. She had never needed to worry about it before. But now, her father had at least twenty men at her door wanting to court her, and she could just barely fend them off. Thank goodness for Fendrel, her loyal Queensguard. She wasn't queen yet, but her father had already announced that she was going to be crowned in May, and as a gift, he had given her a Queensguard.

Fendrel and she had become close friends over those few months that they had known eachother. He was a good friend, and she knew that she could trust him with anything.

To be honest, Fendrel knew much more about Seraphia than her father did. King Magor was less drunken than he had been, thanks to Seraphia, who had decided to go into action about the problem.

She had secretly taken two bottles every day out of his private cellar. He was almost out of liquor, and he still hadn't noticed. There were still days when Seraphia wondered if he had found out where she was putting them.

She couldn't just throw them out, because his guards would notice. And even though they didn't like the fact that he was often drunk, they didn't want to get in trouble. Anyone could be watching, and who knows what the punishment would be? The king was drunk. He could easily order someone killed over taking his ale, even his own daughter, if he was drunken enough.

The people were starting to whisper. Some were saying that Magor shouldn't be king. Seraphia almost agreed with them. Her father wasn't fit to rule. But he hadn't destroyed the kingdom _yet,_ so Seraphia let things be. Her mind was more pleasantly occupied.

You see, Seraphia was quite fond of Fendrel, and liked him quite a bit. However, she knew better than to bring it up to her father. That would cause quite a storm, indeed. Magor wanted Seraphia to marry a rich man, for selfish reasons of his own. He would never let her get away with marrying a guard, even if he was a Queensguard, which was the most elevated position for such a class.

She had managed to get her father to invite the guards to the ball, too, though. They deserved a break, and Seraphia had convinced her father by hinting that she liked one of the men he had suggested to her.

She knew that her mother wouldn't have wanted this for her or her father. Ilytha would have wanted her daughter to marry a man she loved, not a man that would only keep the kingdom from falling into ruin. Her mother would have never let her father get drunken, if she hadn't been so ill.

In short, things would have been so much better if the Queen was still living. The thought of her mother brought tears to Seraphia's eyes, but she brushed them away and continued in her mission.

Everyday, she managed to sneak outside the walls and get to the forest to hunt. If her father knew, he would be terribly angry. In her father's opinion, it was not ladylike to hunt, or ride horses, or practice archery. All of which were Seraphia's favorite activities.

Well, at least he couldn't make her do needlework. He would never be able to catch her to make her do so, and his guards couldn't either. Perhaps Fendrel could, but she knew that he would never betray her.

The one person that could catch her that Seraphia could think of, was Daimon.

Daimon was only three years older than she was. He was nineteen, now, and she was sixteen. He was one of the youngest guards in the kingdom, but he was most definitely the smartest, and the quickest. The kingdom couldn't do without him.

She had never told her father what she had planned on doing that night, but she had made sure that Daimon got elevated. She had wanted to make him a part of her Queensguard, but her father had said that guarding the gates didn't deserve that big of an elevation.

Oh, if only he had known.

Seraphia didn't have any feelings for Daimon, but she highly respected him. He was very handsome, once she thought about it, with his thick, dark hair, and his warm golden brown eyes. He worked most of the time, so he was very muscular.

Someday she would get him into her Queensguard, whether her father liked it or not. He worked harder than he needed to, and she would make sure that he got everything that he deserved.

Somehow, she didn't think that he would appreciate an elevation to a noble. He just didn't seem like that sort of person.

Still, she would figure something out.


End file.
